X
In Theaters Now
- 2024
- R
- Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 44 m
- 2024
- R
- Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 44 m
Summary Kinds of Kindness is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spirit...
Directed By: Yorgos Lanthimos
Written By: Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
In Theaters Now
- 2024
- R
- Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 44 m
- 2024
- R
- Searchlight Pictures
- 2 h 44 m
Kinds of Kindness
64
5.4
Where to Watch
Summary Kinds of Kindness is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spirit...
Directed By: Yorgos Lanthimos
Written By: Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 54 Critic Reviews
64
67% Positive
36 Reviews
36 Reviews
24% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
9% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 54 Critic Reviews
64
67% Positive
36 Reviews
36 Reviews
24% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
9% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
This ramping-up of darkness from episode to episode is largely what justifies Kinds Of Kindness’ triptych structure. It never feels like these evenly-timed stories would fare better in isolation; they build upon and complicate one another, gelling into something haunting that fits the touted “fable” description.
By Farah Cheded
FULL REVIEW
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 37 User Ratings
5.4
49% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
16% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
35% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 37 User Ratings
5.4
49% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
16% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
35% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
An interesting and alternative movie to watch, but with no point at all. It contains some psychological interesting scenes (as always in Lanthimos filmography) that, joint with the excellent acting, save this movie from defining it a failure.
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This anthology film consists of three separate but loosely connected stories, each of which feature the same set of actors in different roles and scenarios. A man (Jesse Plemons) has his life and every move controlled by his domineering boss (Willem Dafoe), straining the former's relationship with his wife (Hong Chau), a police officer (Plemons) finds himself growing increasingly suspicious of his wife's (Emma Stone) strange behavior following her rescue from a deserted island, and two cult leaders (Plemons and Stone) attempt to seek out a woman (Margaret Qualley) who supposedly has the ability to bring the dead back to life. Written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, those who know and are familiar with him and his style by this point should know what they're getting themselves into for better or worse, what with his absurdist and incredibly dark and morbid sense of humor. Truth be told, I've long been of the belief that his style has worn thin. What was once fresh and worked really well for some of his earliest films simply feels not so fresh or unique anymore. Having not seen some of his earliest work such as 'Dogtooth', 'Alps, etc. I can only really speak on behalf of the earliest films of his that I saw, which was 'The Lobster' and 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer', both of which happened to be distributed by the ever-so-popular indie distributor A24. With both of those films, his style hadn't quite outstayed its welcome with me, as that's when I was freshly introduced to his unorthodox style of humor and filmmaking. They both remain his strongest works to date (especially 'The Lobster', which has remained one of my absolute favorites.) otherwise, the guy is pretty hit or miss with me, and everything after 'Sacred Deer' has unfortunately been a miss, with this one sadly, but also unsurprisingly to me being no exception. His previous two films 'The Favourite' and 'Poor Things' were both heavy on style and little on substance, with 'Poor Things' in particular overindulging on smut and sleaze and marking a low point in Lanthimos' career (at least in my opinion.) This time around, the biggest sin he's committed is trying to thread three stories loosely together with very little sense of aim/direction and trying to act like there's anything of significance connecting these stories together (other than the cast.) His efforts prove futile and pretentious once again here. Really the only positives I can think to mention are the cast and their performances and commitment to all of this ridiculous and farcical nonsense, as well as a handful of genuinely amusing moments. Otherwise, this is overall an overlong and scattershot attempt at a compelling and connective triptych of stories that ultimately falls apart after nearly three hours of struggling to keep itself together. Here's hoping Lanthimos will grow on me again someday.
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While the text of “Kinds of Kindness” is rich enough to unpack in thinkpieces and coffee house conversations, there is a sense that there hasn’t been as much careful consideration of how it all ties together as in some of his best films.
Kinds of Kindness is lighter on jokes and visual brio than many of the director’s previous films, with an overlong runtime that weakens the twist-heavy tension and punchy rhythm of having three back-to-back stories. Despite a solid-gold cast and some deliciously bizarre fairy-tale plots, it still plays more like a fun personal stop-gap project than a major career step.
For all these characters, something about being subjugated by someone else provides a perverse sense of comfort.
It’s telling that, in a picture that exudes more than a whiff of artistic fatigue, the newcomer to Lanthimos’s company supplies the freshest impact.
A truly torturous experience for almost everyone involved – up to and including the starry cast of Lanthimos regulars, who must now surely realize they have been duped by a master cinematic con artist – the film is an aggressively juvenile and tedious dissection of the notion of free will.
This long film (2:45) is actually 3 separate stories using the same cast in different roles. Jesse Plemmons is at the center of each one, in addition to Yorgos Lanthimos regulars Emma Stone and Willem Defoe. The narrative is a cross between a flat Twilight Zone episode and a shaggy dog story. There are absurd elements that add interest but not much meaning. The cast does a fine job, even though the characters are emotionally arid and their sometimes stilted delivery doesn't help. Director Yorgos Lanthimos harkens back to some of his more bizarre work and this feels mannered and much too long. Some fans may enjoy the weirdness, but it's more pretentious and cerebral than rewarding or…heaven forbid…entertaining.
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I registered just to write a review about the worst movie I’ve ever seen. It feels like the director asked ChatGPT to write the entire script and edited it hundreds of times until words like “random” and “absurd” could no longer describe this mess. The humor is where absurdity and slapstick meet at the shallowest depths imaginable.
I saw two people walk out of a theater with only 10–15 of us present. Watching paint dry would be more preferable than suffering through this pathetic attempt at a movie.
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Production Company
Element Pictures,
Film4,
Searchlight Pictures,
TSG Entertainment
Release Date Jun 21, 2024
Duration 2 h 44 m
Rating R
Tagline Everybody's looking for something
Awards
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Sydney Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Munich Film Festival
• 1 Nomination